Sweet Heart Coffee Cake

So I can't lie that I am not the biggest fan of Valentines Day because I think you should show the same amount of love to a person day in and day out. I think it's stupid how much pressure people put on one night out on the town. Wouldn't it be much more romantic to bake this yummy coffee cake and snuggle up with a pot of coffee and just spend time talking and doing "other" things... 

But however you and your honey decide to spend Valentines Day we hope that above all you are happy in celebrating the love and spark that you share, that makes your relationship unique and beautiful.

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Let's get bakin'.

I must warn you this bread is pretty labor intensive, so prepare yourself to make this when you have lots of time on your hands. 

Sweet Heart Coffee Cake

2 cups of sour cream
2 pkgs dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 cups flour
1 1/2 cups finely chopped California dried apricots
1 1/2 cups chopped maraschino cherries

Icing

2 cups powered sugar
2 Tbls water


STEPS 1-12

STEP 1: Heat sour cream until luke warm.

STEP 2: Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl

STEP 3: Stir in sour cream, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and 2 cups of flour. Mix in enough flour so the dough is easy to handle (no sticky dough).

STEP 4: Knead on floured board for about ten minutes. (I have a Kitchen Aid, so this process is much easier on my end. I use the dough hook.)

STEP 5: Place kneaded dough in a greased bowl, greased side up. Cover and let rise for an hour. After an hour the dough should have doubled in size.

STEP 6: Heat oven to 375 degrees.

STEP 7: Punch down dough (literally punch the middle of the dough on your flour filled surface.) Divide into three equal parts.

STEP 8: Roll each part into a rectangle roughly 15x6 inches. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet.

STEP 9: With scissors make 2 inch long cuts at 1/2 inch intervals on both sides of the rectangle.

STEP 10: In a food processor combine the apricots and cherries, blend until the mixture is in small chunks. Spread 1/3 of the mixture on the center of the dough and crisscross the strips over the filling, stretch the dough to 22 inches. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough and filling.  Shape pieces into a heart.

STEP 11: Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown,

STEP 12: Brush with melted butter while warm, drizzle on icing (mix powdered sugar and water until desired consistency), and decorate with cherries.

This bread is so good and if you have basic baking ingredients won't cost you much to make!

Have the best Valentines Day!

Love,
Bethany